A Whole New World

How do they have a picture of it so fast!? No one has ever been there!

So NASA's discovered a planet in the habitable zone of another star. Cool. The next thing they need to discover is how to get there. I'm trying to visit some Vulcans.

peace.

Reverend Tyson and General Colbert

I can't think of a better duo.



I'm pretty sure Dr. Tyson has been the most frequent reoccurring guest on Stephen Colbert's Colbert Report on Comedy Central. However, Stephen never has a chance to interview folks out of character, which is what makes this clip so fantastic. And as you will see, Colbert is just as brilliantly funny here as he is on his show. This is a wonderful interview.



peace.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Takin' it To 'Em

I've been gone for a couple of days. Most of my energy recently has been dedicated to rehearsals for a show. Things are moving along incredibly well, but there has been little time for thought and reflection on ideas and topics currently occupying my interest.

So, allow me to humbly offer a bit of my science hero Neil deGrasse Tyson.

All this info on this particular lecture can be found here on the youtube page for this video.

I'll be back tomorrow with the Emcee of the Month.

Thanks for stickin' with me.

peace.

Reverend Tyson For The Win

Tonight I'm hanging back. I had a great day meeting with the cast of a play in which I'll be performing around the holidays. So, I think I'll allow myself some time to slow down and sit with the resonance of the day.

So while I goof off, I offer to you another Neil deGrasse Tyson video that I've recently discovered. He's in exceptionally fine form with this one.

Enjoy!

peace.

Reverend Tyson, Take it Away!

I have a fairly significant audition tomorrow, so I'm going to hit the sack early tonight. So I'll let my homie Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson take the reins until tomorrow.

This is my absolute favorite youtube video of Dr. Tyson. He not only speaks about the intricacies of disseminating scientific curiosity, but also a bit of the sociopolitical consequences of choosing astrophysics as a profession.

Stellar.

peace.

Reverend Tyson Does It Again

It's waaaaaaaay too late for me right now, especially considering I have a duty to perform tomorrow. So I leave you tonight with one of my heroes, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

This is science literacy at its absolute best.

peace.

The Latest from Reverend Tyson

Why did they hook him up with the erudite set? What's with the fake fauna in the window?

It's been a while since I've checked up on my main man Dr. Tyson. So tonight I cranked out a youtube search, filtered the results by upload date, and this was the first interesting clip that popped up.

A few days ago I was talking with someone about the Drake Equation (See here.) in a conversation involving the search for extraterrestrial life. In that same discussion, we also covered the possibility of living organisms under the ice surface of Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. We even got around to speculating the possible intellectual capacity of galactic travelers that may have swung by Earth. In each of this bits of the discussion, the information I've learned while listening to Dr. Tyson proved to be a welcome addition to our talk.

I'm quite excited I've found this set of lectures from Dr. Tyson. When he speaks during his guest appearances around the country, he doesn't really have time to elaborate on much of the information he presents. The nerd in me looks forward to Dr. Tyson expanding upon many of the topics I've heard him highlight over the years.

You know, I keep a growing list of astrophysics questions on my iPod just in case I bump into him.

Yup. I'm a big dweeb.

peace.

Osmosis

Every night I go to sleep with a video or movie playing as I doze off. It's usually something I've seen a few times before so I don't have to process too much new information and I try to begin in a new place every night. I've found this allows my mind to stay restfully aware of something happening so as not to wander from thought to thought. When attempting to fall asleep without a movie or a video, my thoughts keep me uncomfortably awake for quite a while.

For a while during my senior year of high school my nightly movie was Die Hard with a Vengeance. The next big one was The Hunt for Red October, and after that I was using Porco Rosso. Since I got my iPod touch, I've been making a move towards extended youtube videos and Top Gear episodes on streetfire.net.

Tonight it will be this:

I've yet to make it all the way through this video, but I've been chipping away at it for a couple weeks now. My hope is that perhaps, somehow, I'll absorb on some of Dr. Tyson's brilliance by osmosis. Maybe I'll be smarter in the morning.

!!!

peace.

Two Things That Are Black: Holes and Dynamite

I'm leaning back in my chair tonight.

I just found a fantastic website called NASA's Imagine the Universe. Earlier today I was having a conversation with someone about what happens to time inside a black hole. Looking into it more I stumbled across this site:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

Not only are there theories and ideas on the properties of black holes, but questions about the search for dark matter and dark energy, traveling at the speed of light, and the physics of stars and galaxies. So I'm going to spend some time soaking some of this up tonight.

Meanwhile, I'll be watching the end of this brilliant piece of cinematic excellence:

Perhaps soon I'll get into this movie with more detail. But for now I will simply say this has to be one of the most hilarious, smart, and well made Black American movies I have ever seen. Scott Sanders, the director, is like Spike Lee with a sense of humor. And Michael Jai White is nothing short of outstanding and outstandingly funny. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend checking it out.

peace.